Withered
by Eternally Seventeen
Summary: 'They lay there together, two forgotten girls, with the dead hopelessly trying to revive the dying.' / Where Rose, overcome by depression and anorexia, believes that her life isn't worth living anymore. What happens when Scorpius discovers her on the verge of death in an abandoned washroom? -ThreeShot-
1. Withered

**A/N: **This is something that I conjured up out of literally NOWHERE...warning, there's self-abuse and quite some angst in there. ScorRose forever. Will update as soon as I know that enough people love it :P Hope you're one of them! :)

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**Withered**

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Her eyes took in the torn and tattered appearance of her favourite novels and her thin white fingers brushed lovingly across the cracked leather cover as her nostrils flared with the scent of old leather mingling with old pages, old spaces, old memories.

She opened the cover of the book and flipped through the pages till she found the unsmiling face of Helena Ravenclaw and a mixture of shame and regret, loss and ache flooded through her, leaving her senses seized for a moment as she felt her spirit become with that of Helena.

Her fingers guiltily, unconsciously brushed across the pale curve of her neck where her mother's gold chain nestled against her jutting collarbones. It made her send yet another infinite apology to her mother for stealing the only remaining memory of her wedding day.

Rose shut the books, pushed the chair into position rather scratchily and walked slowly towards the Gryffindor dormitories. Her emaciated frame was shrouded within the black robes that billowed around her in the unpredictable autumn breeze that followed her out of the library.

"Rose, hey, where have you been? I've been looking for you for over an hour!" Lily's brow furrowed as she took in Rose's pallor.

"Oh, I was just completing my Charms essay in the library," Rose responded airily, her hands automatically hiding the books she held within the loose folds of her robes.

"Where's your parchment?" Lily's sharp eyes scarcely missed a heartbeat.

"Oh, er…I must have left it back at the library. I'll see you in a bit then!" Rose turned around promptly, already regretting her return to the dorm.

Lily pulled Rose back before she could escape. "Aren't you coming for _dinner, _Rose?"

"I'm not all that hungry; I've been gorging on chocolate frogs and sugar quills the entire day!" The lie came to her easily, but her dead eyes betrayed her faux-cheerful voice.

The dormitory burst open just then and a frazzled Lucy burst through the door. "Lily? James and Lysander have been looking for you in the common room; they mumbled something about charms and hexes that I just couldn't comprehend…" she breathed heavily, rather red in the face

Lily rushed over to her. "Hey, whoa, slow down. What did they call me for, again? Are they alright?"

"Just go to them, Lil, common room!" Lucy snapped, reminding Lily so much of her uncle Percy. It terrified her so much that she scuttled away, but not before throwing Rose a worried glance.

"Promise me you'll have dinner. Here, go with Luce," Lily pressed, still a little worried.

"Don't worry about me, Lil. Tell James and Ly I say hello!"

"I will."

And with a flash of bright red hair, she streaked off to where her brother and best friend waited for her.

* * *

Rose entered the deserted girl's washroom on the third floor and looked around furtively to ensure that no one, not even Moaning Myrtle was around to invade her privacy. She then cast a silencing charm around the last sink, placed her bag on a dry patch on the ground and dug a wicked black quill out of her bag, a quill so unlike the one she and everyone else used normally.

A dark smile flitted across her smile as she recalled how she had mastered the complex magic required to create such an artefact as a fourth-year student two years ago. For just a moment, Rose felt proud of herself.

_But even this intellect is something I acquired from mum, _she thought bitterly, the smile wiped clean from her face. _Nothing is mine. I own nothing. NOTHING! _The dark unhappy waves swirled and crashed against her mind, burning deep holes into her soul.

She unearthed an old piece of parchment and began writing.

_I am poor._

_I own nothing._

_I am poor._

_I own nothing._

The deep red words glistened on her parchment and the deep red words bled from her left hand.

_I am poor._

_I own nothing._

_I am poor._

_I own nothing._

The sink was now a drowning canvas of pinks and whites, the blurry colours mirroring Rose's blurry mind.

And all of a sudden her world went black and Rose crashed onto the cold, wet floor just as Myrtle entered and screamed and screamed and screamed, loud scared screams that nobody heard.

They lay there together, two forgotten girls, with the dead hopelessly trying to revive the dying.

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"Rose! Rose, wake up, Rose, do you hear me?"

His long, slim fingers were smeared with her blood and he was beside his mind trying to revive her.

Even he didn't know what had possessed him to direct his desperate search for her towards the abandoned ladies' washroom, but he was so grateful to his gut instinct for leading him there. A few moments more and he'd be attending her funeral instead.

The fact that she hadn't been at the Great Hall for the fourth night in a row was just one minor sign of distress that Rose Weasley had unwittingly demonstrated. Coupled with her growing separation from everyone, even him, and her complete lack of participation in classes, she'd become a person that even Scorpius had failed to recognise.

His heartbeat throbbed arrhythmically as he tried reviving her in vain and the tears now fell fast, deepening the pool of bloody water in which Rose lay.

"Rose," he managed weakly, picking her cold hand up to press his lips to it when his blood froze over.

_I am poor._

_I own nothing._

The words carved out deep into her hand still oozed blood, and Scorpius cried out in alarm.

He'd assumed that the blood on the floor was from a wound on her head as she'd taken a rather mighty fall. Standing up, he almost vomited at the sight of the bloody sink and caught sight of the vicious black quill lodged in a crevice behind the tap.

Repulsion overtook him as he gingerly picked the quill up with just a thumb and forefinger and he ran towards a cubicle, flushing the incriminating object down the toilet.

He sloshed back to Rose, who still showed no signs of life except for the weak pulse fluttering by the blue veins in her wrist. A desperate Scorpius picked her off the floor after using his green muffler as a makeshift bandage over the cuts on her hand and hurried towards the hospital wing, wondering how on earth he was going to explain himself to Healer Abbott. She hardly weighed anything and panic bubbled within him, rising as he tried in vain to remember the last time he'd seen her eat.

His mind was racing as he carried away quickly, using discrete routes that allowed him to escape the stares and questions that were bound to follow. He thought of Hugo and Albus and groaned. _Her family. _How was he going to explain himself to them? _Where were they, to begin with?_

He began talking to Rose again in a panicky voice as she remained still. It had been a good half hour since he'd found her and her lack of response was frightening him more than he allowed himself to express.

"Rosie, sweetheart, what's happened to you? Why were you doing that to yourself, why haven't you been talking to you? I've missed you…"

Her eyeballs moved just the slightest bit beneath their paper thin lids and he continued with renewed vigour in his voice.

"Rosie, did you know that James and Lysander actually came to dinner with huge purple splotches all over their face? A result of a silly duel with Fred and Louis, I heard. And professor Neville was blushing _so_ hard as Professor Platrela casually mentioned Healer Abbott…made me wonder if the two were having a baby or something." His words didn't even make sense to his own ears but she'd response to his voice before and he felt like he'd do anything to see her respond again, if only slightly.

The hospital wing was in full view now and Scorpius breathed a haggard sigh of relief. He paused for a second and pressed his lips onto her cold, cold forehead, tracing kisses down her sharp cheekbone and protruding jawline. Her emaciated face and body frightened him to his very core; here were emotions he wasn't accustomed to _at all._

"Healer Abbott!" Scorpius burst into the hospital wing, only to find it abandoned.

His heart leaped into his mouth and his eyes stung with unshed tears.

What was he to do now?

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_Please do leave a review and let me know what you think? Thank you!_


	2. Nurtured

**A/N:** Here's the promised update, lovelies. Hope you like it, do drop a review when you're done! This doesn't hurt as much as the previous chapter, I promise

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**Nurtured**

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The doors to the hospital wing were thrown open for the second time that night as Healer Hannah Abbott entered with her husband Professor Neville in tow. The pair's laughing, teasing tone died at the sight of a wild-eyed Scorpius.

Healer Abbott rushed to him, a look of concern creeping up her face. "Scorpius, what brings you here? Are you alright?"

Scorpius mutely led her to the last bed where a motionless Rose Weasley lay and Hannah let out a tiny shriek of shock. The bed was stained with blood, and the girl's complexion resembled the white sheets way more than it should have.

"What has happened to her?" The horror was too evident in her eyes and voice, scaring Scorpius all over again.

"She will be alright, won't she? Tell me she'll be okay!" His one was unintentionally rough, and Neville headed over to see what the matter was. He clearly did a better job at concealing his worry and fright than his wife did.

"Scorpius, calm down. Just tell Healer Abbott what happened, and she'll be able to revive Rose in no time."

The words sounded weak and empty to Scorpius' sinking spirit.

"She…I found her…she'd fainted, and lost a lot of blood…" He was reluctant to tell them how exactly she'd done so, and Neville sensed it. The two looked up to exchange a glance before Healer Abbott turned to Scorpius once more.

"Has she been eating at all?" Her emaciated form was too much of a giveaway.

Scorpius shook his head.

"I haven't seen her eat in quite some time now, Healer, and she – she seems so changed, so…" He trailed off, lost, hurt and confused.

Hannah nodded as she moved about briskly, grabbing two bottles and mixing their contents in a little mug before settling the still unconscious Rose into a sitting position and ever so slowly feeding her the potion.

She didn't wake up the entire night.

* * *

Rose was a prisoner of her body that night, unable to wake up despite being lucid. She felt like she was on fire; her throat was parched and her lungs burnt with every small breath she inhaled.

Scorpius wondered if his frantic worry was resulting in delusions as he caught the occasional flutter in Rose's eyes and waited eagerly for a more tangible response that he never got.

Rose didn't want to be alive. In that moment it was all she could do to remain breathing; she'd tried holding her breath infinitely till her lungs slipped into a permanent slumber, but her heart wouldn't cease to beat.

Scorpius shed pale tears that slowly rolled off his pale face as he cursed himself repeatedly, vowing to never leave the girl's side ever again.

Rose drew in a ragged breath as the rays of the rising sun fell upon her eyelids, causing her to cringe. Scorpius was by her side within seconds.

"Rose!" It was all there in his voice, the love and exhaustion and fear and dedication and terror he felt just then. He caressed her drained cheek in his palm and attempted a weak smile as she squinted against the watery rays of the sun.

"Hey, how are you?" He would have given anything to hear her voice just then.

She struggled to open her eyes and then made an incomprehensible motion with her hand.

"What?"

Slightly frustrated, Rose folded four fingers into her palm and, with the thumb sticking up, swiped her palm up towards her mouth.

Scorpius still didn't grasp it. His eyebrows crinkled with confusion as she repeated the motion with her good hand while the expression on her face grew murderous by the second.

"Water!" she finally rasped.

"Oh!" Scorpius smacked himself on the forehead before reaching out to the shelf adjacent to him and grabbing a bottle of water. He then helped her sit up, putting his arms around her frail frame as though afraid of breaking her and slowly, gently, helped her drink the water.

Once she signalled for him to stop, Scorpius kept the bottle away and sat next to her on the bed, really looking at her properly for the first time in days.

She looked beyond terrible.

Every bone in her body jutted out, straining against her paper thin, paper white skin. She stared at him silently and he squeezed his eyes shut in a vain attempt to prevent the tears from flowing.

"Scor," she whispered, but he silenced her with an urgent, desperate kiss as his mind tried to constantly erase the trauma of the previous day. She could hardly respond and he pulled apart, sensing her weakness and slight reluctance.

"Why, Rose?" he asked her, his voice hardly above a whisper.

She shook her head, mute.

Unable to explain.

_Unwilling to explain._

What could she tell Scorpius Malfoy, a boy literally born with a silver spoon in his mouth, of the suffering that accompanied poverty? She may have a home, but one that was nearly falling apart. She may have books, none of which were originally her own. She hadn't smelt the warm, crisp smell of new pages in a new book because she hadn't been able to afford one for _years_.

Her heart exploded every time she watched her mother re-darn her stockings and sweaters, firmly refusing to buy another one with a sweet smile.

"_Ron, I'm warm enough, sweetheart! Do buy a jumper each for Rosie and Hugo, won't you?" _

Rose's eyes had stung with tears as she'd overheard the conversation between her parents, and the memory hurt her even more now.

Scorpius watched silently as Rose fought an internal war, hating the fact that all he could do was to sit by her side.

He looked out the window as the sun had gotten even brighter and with a start, realised that Healer Abbott would be there anytime soon.

"Rose," he began speaking urgently as she looked up at him with a start.

"Listen to me carefully. There's nothing on this earth that you can't share with me, and you have just no idea how very, very sorry I am for not being there, the past few days." He took her pale palm in his hands and rubbed it softly, placing warm kisses as he spoke.

"Not…your…fault," Rose croaked weakly. She would never, ever blame or punish him for his affluence. He was more than willing to share and had not once treated her like a charity case.

"Shh," he placed a finger upon her freezing lips. "Don't talk till you get better, okay?"

She nodded softly, a smile now beginning to creep up her face.

Scorpius wasn't done, however.

"And why haven't you been eating?" his voice rose alarmingly and a nerve jumped violently in his jaw. "You look like you haven't tasted a morsel for over a week, Rosie!" He was dangerously close to the truth.

Healer Abbott rushed in just then and Scorpius jumped back guiltily, a little sad at the loss of privacy.

"Good morning, Healer Abbott."

She smiled in return and her face paled at the sight of Rose. Scorpius didn't understand this sudden change in expression; the girl had been talking to him only moments ago, for Merlin's sake!

Rose's eyebrows wrinkled with confusion as Hannah busted around her, feeling her pulse, touching her forehead and tapping her back with something sharp. It made her cry out in pain.

"Hey, what was that for?" Scorpius temporarily forgot that he was talking to a Healer.

She ignored his comment for a moment and looked at Rose sternly, who cowered under her gaze.

"You are in a great deal of trouble, young lady. I'm sending an owl to your parents right now – your stomach has shrunk so much, you can hardly ingest food anymore. Don't ask me questions right now," she warned, turning around to a now sulky Scorpius.

"You have both been granted exemptions from lessons for the whole day; not like there was much choice in Rose's case," she added grumpily. Worry _always _made Healer Abbott grumpy, and the woman nurtured a bit of a soft spot for little Rosie Weasley.

"Healer?" Rose ventured softly?

"Yes?"

"Can you please owl Uncle Harry and Aunt Ginny instead?"

Her eyes were pleading, and Hannah had no choice but to comply. She wondered why the girl did not want to see her parents, though.

"Rosie…is everything okay between you and your parents?" Her voice was soothing but every wrinkle in her kindly face screamed of concern.

Rose nodded weakly. "I just…they can't see me like this…" She burst into soft sobs, and Scorpius glared at Healer Abbott accusingly.

"Sorry, sorry," she offered hastily. "Harry and Ginny – I mean, Mr and Mrs Potter it is."

And the pair nodded their thanks as Hannah scuttled towards the owlery, grateful for some more time alone.

"So," Scorpius began once Healer Abbott was safely out of earshot.

"What exactly is the... reason, behind all of this?"

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So, I hope I didn't disappoint. Do let me know what you think!


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